Image courtesy of Deron Yamada. © 2004 DYA367.

Imagine a Cadillac hurtling down a narrow street, taking out every parked car in its path and sending debris flying in all directions. Relentlessly pursued by a mysterious sedan, the Cadillac is forced into the path of an oncoming concrete mixer. The collision is so fierce, that the mixing drum is torn from the truck and arcs over the perfectly undamaged Cadillac to crash onto the street below.

How would you shoot a scene like that? How would you craft it for maximum visceral impact, but safely and at a low cost -- and within the ultra-tight turnaround window that is typical of commercial productions? These are the kinds of questions a visual effects supervisor is tasked with every day. This article will look at what it takes to provide effective vfx supervision and highlight the reasons that budgeting for a vfx supervisor on the set of an effects-intensive commercial is a valuable, and cost-saving component to the production team.

Vfx Supervision and Commercials
Where does the vfx supervisor fit in on a production? In the commercial production world, a vfx supervisor will correctly acquire the necessary materials to realize the agency and director’s creative vision. Vfx supervisors are commonplace on feature film sets -- but that isn’t always the case in the commercial world. Whether it’s budget, time constraints or tradition, vfx supervisors often find themselves called upon much later, deep into post, to “fix” things that could have been avoided had they been involved early in the pre-production process and present during the shoot to coordinate complex shots.

Brickyard VFX supervised Indestructible, a recent Farmers Insurance commercial in which a Cadillac hurtles down a narrow street, takes out every parked car and sends debris flying. Unless otherwise stated, all images © Brickyard VFX.

At Brickyard, we try to make recommendations for going on set on a case-by-case basis once we’ve taken a look at the project’s boards. If there are shots that need CG and compositing, we’ll need to stress to the director and agency that our presence is essential. But if the spot contains only straightforward shots our on-set supervision may not be necessary.

Vfx Supervisors in Pre-Production
Getting involved in pre-production has always been important for us -- it’s an opportunity to help solve puzzles before they ever become real problems, and allows us to suggest different approaches and help explore new ideas. There are, of course, boundaries set by the agency or the director that we work within. For example, a director may want to “keep it organic” and avoid CG completely, when that might not be the easiest way to achieve a shot.

We often recommend pre-visualization as well, especially when there is a heavy amount of CG in a spot. It helps explore the shots with the agency, and the director is able to start editing before a single frame is shot. Camera timing, moves and lenses can be explored, as can relative size of CG objects and real sets, and it’s even possible to work out if a particular camera rig will be able to maneuver correctly in a given space. Previs saves time and headaches for everyone involved, and it takes a lot of the guesswork out of shooting, and ultimately saves money.